37 killed, 12 wounded in Syria coach crash

Some 37 people were killed and another 12 wounded at dawn, Sunday when a coach hit Sreihin bridge just five kilometers from the city of Hama, 150 km north of Damascus. Only the coach driver and his aide were unharmed.

The coach was heading from Aleppo to Beirut. Eyewitnesses said the coach -- carrying 49 passengers, most of them from Aleppo -- collided with the bridge at 2.30 a.m. Sunday. The director of the health department in Hama, Muhammad Shami, said the wounded were transferred to the state-run hospital and to a medical center in Hama. He added that their health conditions are stable.

Al-Shamai added that this accident is one of the worst traffic accidents to take place in Syria in recent years. The coach is owned by al-Zaitouni transport company, which is very well-known in Syria.